Silent sales storeroom for perishable goods



Feb. 20, 1923.

. 1,446,215; A. J. SCHWARTZ. STOREROOM FOR PERISHABLE GOODS.

FILED NOV- 2; 1922.

INVENTOR Patented Feb. Til), 12923.

stares 1 ALFRED a. sonwancrz or nn'rnornivnonrean.

Application filed November 2, 19.22. Serial No. 59s,5se.-

To all whom-it may concern.

Be it known that I, ALFRED J. SCHWARTZ, a citizen of the Unlted States, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Silent Sales Storeroom i'or Perishable Goods, of which the following is aspect iication, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing. J

This invention relates generally to improvements in store service.

An important object of the invention is to provide 'a truly sanitary construction and selling system whereby perishable goods, such as meats, for instance, maybe kept 1ndefinitely in prime condition, and disposed of at retail without unnecessary manipulation on the part of either therendor or the purchaser. I

A further ob ect is the provision of means "enabling the said goods to be retailed in complete silence, thereby avoiding useless conversations between the buyers and the salespeople, and consequently saving; much valuable tlme to the latter. which will permit a corresponding reduction in prices to the former.

With these and other Ob]CtS in View, the invention consists of the novel improve- .ments, parts, combinations, and features of construction herein shown and described,

and pointed out in the subjoined claims.

, Referring to the said drawing for a detailed description of the invention,

Figure 1 is a top plan view, showing a construction designed to carry out the purposes above indicated; Figp2isa frontelevation of the same; and F 1g. 3 154.1121 end. view.

- room is available for storing the perishable goods to be sold. Such a structure is indicated in the drawing, in which the reference numerals 11, 12, 13, and 14: represent the outer walls of aneordinary building, and 15 designates a room or compartment therein, which takes up a little more than one-half of the interior of the building and is divided off by suitable partitions; as 16, 17, and 18. The room 15 intended for the storage and retail sale of meats. fish, fruits, and farm produce of a perishable nature and its dimensions may vary to an indefinite extent. The only requisite, in so far as the size of this store-room is conditions either in the i coils of pipe 21, extending lengthwise adja- The invention may be practiced in any cerned, isthat it should embody a staunch construction enabling the space inclosed thereby to befmaintained at a relatively low temperature. Ordinarily, it will be suiiicient to keep the air in the room at about 35 degrees l' ahrenheit in order to preserve all food or provisions stored therein from decay, regardless of the atmospheric conrest ofthe building or outside. f 1

' any preferred means may be utilizedfto produce the {required coolness or refrigen ation-in the said-store-room, whether the same consists of natural or artificial medial, and be operated from withinor without. By way of example, however, the accompanyinr: drawing suggests the use of a well-known torm of refrigerating apparatus including 1 cent to the ceiling of the room, and other mechanical agencies which it is not necessary hereto illustrate or describe. Display-racks 24 are provided, inside the room 15, on which the meats or other articles of food that are'put up for sale can be exhibited. A series of such racks is preferably employed, the same, following" one another in, continuous alignment close to the front partition 16, as shown. To

refer to the meats'only, it is intended, pursuant to the present invention, that they should be cut into pieces or arranged in por tions of customary sizes forthe retail trade and deposited on platters for display on the racks 24, ,The latter arefurnished for this purpose with several shelves 'each, which are disposed above one another in step-like formation, but suiiiciently spaced apart in a verticaldirection to allow the platters to be readily put on and taken off from the interior of the store-room, The arrangement may best be understood by reference to Fig. 3 ofthe drawinf It is further intended that each piece or portion of meat, and products thereof, should bear a tag; or ticketindicatino; its retail price.

The spac immediately behind the display-r'acks aforesaid, within the store-room,

is reserved "for the sales peop1e,whoareto .1

handle the meat platters, trays, or othercontainers,,and disposeof their contents at the retail prices previously fixedfor the same and denoted on thesaid tags or ticlrets. The master butchers, with their assistants, will be stationed farther baolrin the room. at the rear thereof for instance, as indicated by a meat-cutters block 27, in Fig. 3. Other attendants may likewise be assigned dilierent stations inside the room, which, it is understood, will have all needed shop equipment, besides the stock of goods subjected. to refrigeration.

' Thepartltions 16, 17 and 18, hereinbefore mentioned, are designed to separate the buying public or customers of the establishment selllng the perishable goods from the sales-people andother persons positioned in the store-room, The intention, it will be perceived, iS;tO keep both the casual buyers and the, regular customers entirely out of the room where the perishable goods are stored, exhibited, and offered for sale, so that they can neither gain access to the articles on display, nor have an opportunity to accost. andvengage inconversationwith any one inside. But, to enable the outsiders. to

' inspect the goods before purchasing, and

signify their desire to buy such out ot the display as will meet their wants, taste or. fancy, the said partitions are made'so as to transmit all of the light necessary for the displayed articles to be clearlyviewed and pointed. out. For this purpose, the upper part of each partition is preferably made of glass or other ,lighttransmitting' material. tl'lfltWlll-IlOtrQZtllSB or'permit impairment of i the refrigeration; within the store-room.

" The lower part of the partitions/may consist of woodwork, as indicated at 29, in Figs.

2 and 3. The display-racks may be sup.

ported from the woodwork, as shown in the last-named" figure, by means of brackets,

"Inlfront of the light-transmitting partitions above describedare two aisles-33 and 34, set apart in the building containing the *store-r'oom for the use of the prospective purchasers of the goods exhibited for" sale therein. The firstai'sle, 33, is next tothe building entrances, respectivelyv marked 36 and 37, in Fig. 1,'and may be called the observers aisle, as a full view of the goods onthe display-racks behind the partitions can behad from itrsuflicient to apprise those up in'short lengths that permit quick pas- P sage at convenient intervals from one aisle 5 completedto the other; in approaching a chosen display-rack or leaving it. when a purchase. is

In accordance with the improved selling method contemplated by the invention, the

' intending purchasers who advance into the aisle 34 are given each a ticket bearing a certain number, and at the same time the sales people or attendants in charge of the display-racks behind the light-transmitting partitions are directed to provide empty trays identified by "corresponding numbers.

A patronshowing the ticket received can therefore be waited on by a person carrying the tray marked with the same number, into which will be deposited such of the displayed goods as the former points out to the latter. As soon as an article has been selected and bought, the numbered tray containing it is placed upon an endless belt conveyor 41, located a little below the lowermost shelves of the d1splay-racks and serving to transfer the laden trays onto a wrappers table 42, situated at one end o t the store-room, for instance the right, as shown in Fig. 1. By preference, the belt is run continuously in the same direction-and very slowly, so that a customer may have suiiicient time to make a desirable selection of the goods exhibited on any of the-racks, or to buy articles to be taken off several racks, while the tray carrying the purchases moves toward its destination. 1

' Another conveyor 45. of the parcel carrier type, is provided for theaccommodation of those who make all of their purchases at the farthest display racks or stands from the wrapping table, or who buybut one article and naturally desire to take it out'as promptly as possible. This-other conveyor is suspended'by hangers46', from the ceiling of the store-room 15, at some distance above the display-racks 24, and

being thus located overhead, it can be safely run at a much faster speed than the belt below, so that the goods placed in a tray or basket attached to it can be brought in- 'stantly to the table 42, to be wrapped up-and delivered.

The goods that have been sold and wrapped up are passed out, through a wicket ordrop-window 49, provided in the partitionlS, onto a delivery counter 51, located exteriorly of the store-room. The packages that are ready for delivery, it is understood, bear indications of the prices to be paid for the same, the amount in each instance being reckoned from the figures appearing on the tags afiixed to 'tl1e 'goods displayed. A- cashiers stand or cage 52 is at the end of the alleys 33, 34, by the' counter 51, and the amounts payable on the articles sold are collected there, as each package is being handed out.

Thence the patrons of 1 the establishment can leave the building comprising a store-room 'maintained'at a relatively lO-W temperature, means for displaying the goods together with their retail price therein, a light-transmitting partition between the vendor and purchaser through Which the said goods may be viewed and pointed out a conveyor arranged to transfer indicated articles to a place of delivery, and a means of egress enabling said articles to be passed out of the store-room.

2. A silent sales store-room including a refrigerated inclosure, a series of devices of open step-like formation therein adapted for the display of perishable goods with prices thereto aiiixed, a light-transmiting partition in front of said devices affording a full view of said goods and prices, a conveyor adjacent the series of devices behind said partition, and a closure in the latter permitting delivery of the goods in packages from the said store-room to persons outside.

3. A structure of the character described including a closed store-room, means for cooling the atmosphere therein, a line of display racks in said store-room adapted toexhibit perishable goods with price tags thereto attached, a light transmitting partition in front of said racks allowing said goods and prices to be seen exteriorly thereof, a slow moving conveyor passing by the lower part of the line of racks in rear of said partition, a rapid carrier arranged to run above said conveyor, a Wrappingtable for doing up packages of goods received from either the conveyor or the carrier, a delivery counter on the opposite side of the partition from said table, and a wicket in the partition affording table to said counter.

ALFRED J. SCHWARTZ. [1,. s]

a passage from the 

